Dimensions
143 x 210 x 13mm
The philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin was born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1892 and committed suicide in 1940 after crossing the Pyrenees in an attempt to flee Nazi Europe. Benjamin lived in Berlin, Moscow and Paris, witnessing first-hand many of the historical events of the early 20th century, meeting many of the leading modernist artists, writers and poets, and taking a critical stance on the dominant ideologies of the period - Marxism, Zionism and Technocracy.
This book follows the life and work of Benjamin, tracing his influence on modern aesthetics and cultural history, as well as his particular focus on the tension between Marxism and Zionism, and between word and image in modern art. Benjamin was also one of the first critics to recognise that a technology that could reproduce art could also destroy it. With its brilliant combination of words and images, this book is the ideal introduction to this key modern philosopher and critic of modern art.
